Bold, Bloody and Resolute
by Wildcard
Summary: It's New Year's Eve on Akillian and the Snow Kids are making New Year's Resolutions. Even an ex-Snow Kid gets in the spirit. Rocket x Tia, Mei x D'Jok, Micro-Ice Yuki - in other words, all the standard pairings. Mostly a look at what they want.


**Disclaimer:** Don't own the chars and not making any profit from them, unless you count feeling good when I get reviews. XD

**Summary:** It's New Year's on Akillian, and the Snow Kids are all making New Year's Resolutions. Even an ex-player who's no longer on Akillian. Contains Rocket x Tia, D'Jok x Mei and Micro-Ice + Yuki. Standard canon pairings, in other words! Fluffy in some parts, angsty in others, but mostly a look at what kids who've won the GF Cup twice might want from their futures.

_Bold, Bloody & Resolute_

**Snow Kids, Tia:**

Tia tilted the viewfinder of her camera upwards, taking a slow, sweeping shot of Akillian as seen from the Obia moon. Her parents had insisted that she be at home for New Year's, but then had dragged her to this stupid party and left her alone.

Well. Not quite alone.

The Xenon ambassador's son, Arer, was also in the room with her, but considering that they had absolutely nothing in common and Tia was shy to start out with, Tia had very quickly run out of topics of conversation. There was only so many ways to talk about the weather, and she'd been instructed several times never to bring up politics at parties when she knew nothing about it.

"Rocket..." She spoke to the camera, intending to upload and send the film to Rocket later, "I wish I was with you."

"Rocket is a friend?" Arer asked, startling Tia with his closeness, having managed to get up practically behind her shoulder without her noticing. For such a big creature, he moved surprisingly quietly.

She stiffened up, but nodded and answered politely, "Yes. He's my boyfriend." A hint of pink tinged her cheeks as she made that statement, still not used to claiming possession of Rocket like that.

The fact that Arer was so indifferent to Galactik Football as to not know whom Rocket was only concreted the impression in Tia's mind that really, she and he had nothing in common.

"I too miss my girlfriend." The wistfulness in Arer's tone matched Tia's thoughts and when she looked at him, the long lizard face bore an expression that came from the crinkling of the eyes and the downwards droop of the mouth's corners: loneliness.

Tia spun the camera around subtly to capture the Xenon looking so vulnerable, and silently resolved that for the next year, she'd remember that even if she seemed to have nothing in common with a person, they could still make a good subject to film.

**Snow Kids, Rocket:**

Rocket watched the fireworks explode in the sky, a riot of color that rivaled the crowded hothouse gardens that kept their shop supplied. Sparks of blue flew outwards from a white center, the colors of Akillian well-represented in the fireworks display. The lights glinted off the ice and snow that coated the planet's surface so that every firework made the ground light up as well, almost like a disco ball would.

Red fireworks flowered against the dark night sky and the gaudy colors drowned out the stars. Rocket couldn't see any of the familiar constellations, or even the Obia moon.

Somewhere up there, he knew that Tia was looking down on him. Rocket bounced the football from his left knee to his right, and changed his mind about his New Year's Resolution. He wasn't going to vow to be a better football player. That'd happen if he practiced.

Instead, as he looked up at the brilliant, frustrating sky that separated him from Tia, Rocket vowed that this coming year, he'd spend more time with his girlfriend.

**Snow Kids, D'Jok & Micro-Ice:**

"Micro-Ice, hurry up!" D'Jok blew on his hands impatiently as he waited for Micro-Ice to hand him the next rocket. He got to light all the rockets ever since the year that Micro-Ice hadn't positioned them properly and managed to send one hissing through someone's window – and then into their bed! The old lady whose house the rocket had invaded insisted that she'd nearly had a heart attack, but judging from how vigorously she had scolded them, D'Jok didn't really believe there was anything wrong with her heart.

Still, no point borrowing trouble. The only problem was that Micro-Ice was in charge of handing D'Jok the rockets, and he was currently busy trying to tie a bunch together. When he'd gotten them arranged to his satisfaction, he gave them to D'Jok, who eyed them warily as he tried to judge the odds of them blowing up in his face.

"Hurry up!" It was Micro-Ice's turn to chide him, the smaller boy hopping from foot to foot in the knee-deep Akillian snow.

D'Jok hastily lit it, then ran back to a safe distance as they soared up, firey orange letters spelling out "YUKI" in the sky. D'Jok gaped at it, then punched Micro-Ice on the shoulder, the thick padding of Micro-Ice's jacket absorbing the blow. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to do that? I could've done that for Mei!" She was always complaining about how D'Jok didn't have enough romance in him. She'd have loved this!

Micro-Ice flashed D'Jok a grin, the multi-colored fireworks casting rainbow sparkles on his face, "It wouldn't have been as special if _both _of us had done it."

"Next year," D'Jok decided as he stared up at the fading letters, "I'm going to really wow Mei with how romantic I can be."

Micro-Ice shoved his hands deep inside his pockets for warmth, and watched as Yuki's name disappeared. He hoped she'd seen it, or that at least someone who'd tell her about it had. "Next year, I'm going to get Yuki to go out on a date with me."

Another punch to his shoulder from D'Jok sent him staggering sideways as D'Jok laughed, "Yeah, for April's Day maybe!"

Micro-Ice opted to hit D'Jok upside the head with a snowball by way of answer.

**Snow Kids, Thran, Yuki & Ahito:**

Unsurprisingly, Ahito was already asleep by the time that New Year's rolled around. Thran and Yuki were in the room that the twins shared, playing rounds of computer games while waiting for Ahito to wake up so that they could wish him a Happy New Year. Downstairs, their parents and pretty much every other adult in the family were gathered together for a big family New Year's Party. The only reason that Thran and Yuki weren't stuck on babysitting duty was that as Galactik Football players, they could claim that Aarch didn't want them doing anything that could potentially damage their usefulness. Like straining their back muscles by carrying little kids around. Or carrying lots of hot dishes that they could spill on themselves to end up with burns.

Being a Galactik Football player had many perks, but the best one, Thran considered and Yuki agreed, was getting out of chores.

Thran's character jumped through the portal a second before Yuki's did, and Thran raised both arms in the air in victory. "I win again, little cousin!"

Yuki pouted, slouching her shoulders forwards a little as she uncrossed her legs and tucked them underneath herself. "That's it. My New Year's Resolution is to beat you at this."

Thran's laughter rang out, waking Ahito from his sleep just long enough for the boy to sleepily mumble, "Me too."

Thran instantly looked over, eyes wide for a moment with hope – but Ahito's body had gone limp again and his twin's eyes were closed once more. Thran's shoulders sagged for a moment, the glee of victory leaving him, and he softly promised, "This year, I'll find some way to make you better, little brother."

**Snow Kids, Mei:**

Usually, Mei was in bed long before midnight rolled around. Girls like her needed their beauty sleep, after all! But tonight, she defied her mother's edicts about an early bedtime and waited up by her window. D'Jok and Micro-Ice had invited the whole team to go light fireworks with them, but Mei had had to decline because her mother thought that midnight was much too late to be running around in the cold. Although Mei had gotten better about standing up to her mother, Mei still preferred to pick and choose her battles, relying on Micro-Ice's tactics of evasion to let her get away with doing what she wanted without getting caught. This simply wasn't important enough to her to get into a full blown argument, especially since Tia, Thran, Yuki and Ahito all had family events to attend, so it wouldn't really be a team activity. And although she loved D'Jok, she didn't think that meant she had to go stand around in the cold for his sake. It'd dry out her skin and her lips, and Mei knew her smile was one of her best weapons in her arsenal.

Still, even if she couldn't be out there with them, she could still watch the fireworks and try to guess which ones came from D'Jok and Micro-Ice. Curled up on the windowseat, her blanket tucked cozily around her, Mei leaned her cheek against the cold glass of the window and watched the night sky light up with flickers of dazzling hues. "YUKI" suddenly appeared in letters as bright as the goal-keeper's hair, and Mei laughed out loud.

The sound of footsteps outside her door made her dart into bed, pulling the blanket over her head to hide that her hair had yet to be disheveled by sleep. There was a drawn-out creak as her mother tried to open the door softly and the insides of Mei's eyelids painted themselves red as light from the hallway spilled into her room. Another creak signified that the door had been closed, but Mei made herself count to twenty before she returned to her window seat.

Yuki's name was gone from the sky, and it occurred to Mei with a jolt of annoyance that if D'Jok had spelt out her name, she'd missed seeing it.

Next year, she promised herself, she'd stop hiding from her mother and stand up to her openly.

**Snow Kids, Mark:**

"What's your New's Year Resolution, Mark?" His mother asked, glass already poised at her lips. It was a tradition that every New Year's, his family would voice their resolutions when midnight rolled around, and they'd drink a toast to each vow made. When Mark had been a child, he'd been allowed only blackcurrent juice (it looked as red as wine), but now, he was allowed to actually drink proper wine with his parents, even if only on special occasions.

Mark rested the glass against his mouth as he thought, the cool rim pressing pleasantly against the soft curve of his lower lip. He knew what his resolution was: to stop being a substitute and be an actual player. But he couldn't say that in front of everyone else. It would be like wishing for something bad to happen to one of the current Snow Kids, or for one of them to leave. Micro-Ice had been a substitute before Sinedd had left. If any of the current players left (and Mark's bet was on Rocket), Mark could be on the team.

He wanted that. He wanted that more than he wanted anything else, but he _knew_ he couldn't say that.

So instead, he smiled and lifted his glass in the air, "I vow to be the best football player I can be!"

It was the truth. It was a version of what his New Year's Resolution was. Mark had just worded in a way that his family could accept.

Everyone chimed in their agreement and drank; Mark remembered how proud they'd been of him when he'd been Rocket's substitute and knew they'd be prouder still if he earned a permanent place on the team.

**Shadows, Sinedd:**

The Shadows Archipelago was in a different part of the galaxy and ran on a completely different calendar. The only reason that Sinedd even knew that it was the New Year on Akillian was that it had been announced on the news.

New Year's had never really meant anything much for him. The kids at the orphanage got new clothes, but that was about it. One year was pretty much like another, except that as Sinedd got older, time ticked towards him having to leave the orphanage and fend for himself.

He'd left early and done much better than anyone could've expected, but still not good enough. That was why, before going to bed that night, Sinedd paused in front of his mirror. He met his own gaze levelly, eyes as dark as the Smog when they'd once been Breath-blue. "This year, the Shadows will crush the Snow Kids."

He wasn't on Akillian. It wasn't the New Year for him. That didn't mean that he couldn't make a New Year's Resolution.

It was the same thing he told himself every night anyway.

_~Fin.~_

**Author's Note:** Happy New Year, everyone! If you've been waiting for the next chapter of Netherworld, never fear, it'll be here soon enough. Yuletide Treasure and other fic exchanges kept me busy, along with actual RL celebrations, but the story is definitely NOT abandoned. Hope you guys liked this one! I'm dedicating it to Female Spock, Mitsuko Soma, GF Sistah and GF Champ, whose encouragement is a big part of why I keep writing for this tiny fandom.


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